Posted on 11/02/2005 9:54:04 PM PST by NormsRevenge
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - The pilot who successfully landed an airliner with a broken landing gear at Los Angeles International Airport in September was presented one of North Carolina's highest honors Wednesday by Gov. Mike Easley.
Scott Burke, 46, brought the JetBlue airliner down amid a shower of sparks in an emergency landing broadcast live on national television. No one was hurt.
Burke, who has lived in Raleigh for about 15 years, received the Order of the Long Leaf Pine.
"Captain Burke exhibited true courage and skill under tremendous pressure," Easley said. "The 140 passengers on Flight 292 survived because of his bravery. We are proud to recognize him as a hero and as a North Carolinian."
The airliner emergency started soon after takeoff from Burbank, Calif., on Sept. 21 when the flight crew noticed a caution light indicating a problem with the landing gear. Burke circled past the Long Beach Airport's control tower, where flight controllers saw the nose wheel on Flight 292 hadn't retracted and was twisted out of alignment.
The plane flew in circles for three hours to burn off fuel, then landed safely at Los Angeles International Airport, balancing on its back wheels as it rolled down the center of the runway.
Passengers said Burke, who's been a pilot for nearly 20 years, and the crew kept calm through it all.
A well-deserved honor. That's some pilot!
FR Live Thread 9/21/05
Breaking: Jet Blue emergency landing, Long Beach, CA (UPDATE: Plane Landed Safely)
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1488925/posts
Well, he did a professional job, but courage? Like most pilots, he realizes he's the first to arrive in the event of a crash and self preservation plays a very important part in his decisions.
Self-preservation and courage aren't mutually exclusive, Sparky.
Lighten up a bit...did he steal your lunch money in Grammar School?
Lighten up yourself hotshot. I'm a professional pilot and I know what goes on in the cockpit. Like I said, he's a professional and that's damn high praise coming from another pilot. Take your attitude somewhere else "sparky".
Saganite I agree He has a vested intrest in landing the plane
There was an earlier debate as to wether or not the runway paint stripes which appear to flame up as the nose gear grinds over them were a cause for the flames flaring and reducing.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1489065/posts
Your opinion is?
Mine is that probably paint chips were adding fuel and igniting to the hot metal wheel hub fragments.
I wonder if anyone officially investigated this?
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